The Past Defines Who We Are-OG Transcripts
by H4mmond
Summary: The OG TPDWWA chapters, minus chapter 1 and 2, unfortunately. Careful, it's kinda cringe...(I apologize in advance)
1. Chapter 3

**If you want, this is the original TPDWWA, enjoy.**

**It's also got the original A/N's, except this chapter. Also, chapter 1 and 2 were on an old computer, which is broken, and may be lost. I was able to get the rest since they were on Google docs, so enjoy this classic original piece, worth about...maybe one bean.**

_**Somewhere in Middle East…**_

Tehran was a smoldering wreck. At least, it wasn't before the invasion. Now, it laid in ruins. Hammond force had been shelling it for days on end. Two months, two whole months of continuous bombardment. But today, the guns were silent. Now, for any other time, this would be a great time, but the people of Tehran knew better. Today, Hammond forces would invade the city, and remove its central government by means of excessive force. And the citizens knew that Hammond would go all out. This city was the last of the Middle Eastern Coalition forces' base. Hammond would take the city, and annex the entire Middle East to its country. Now, it was just a matter of time until Hammond forced itself to the center of town. And today, the first units would move in, and strike. Suddenly, the first explosion went off. A lone T-72 tank with a small squad of soldiers just became the first casualties of the battle.

The long awaited Battle of Tehran just began.

**[Scene Skip]**

Gio was hanging out in his dorm room, he was reading some reports on his TCC. One came to his attention that caught him off guard. It was in regards to the upcoming doubles tournament.

He was partnered with Laura.

He raised an eyebrow at this. What high deity above, or below, decided this? The two military IS pilots? One with a suit summoned with anger and the other with the **VT System**? Someone was having a laugh at his expense. Gio got up from his bed and went to go find Laura. He was walking along the dorms when he found her talking to Chifuyu. The two seemed to be arguing. Gio listened in.

"Instructor, why do you stay here with these brats? Come back to Germany, you are needed there!" Laura exclaimed.

"Little girl, what I did for Germany was a repayment. I'm staying here." Chifuyu responded back. Laura visibly flinched, and Gio decided to step in.

"Laura, Chifuyu has made it clear that she is not going back. So you need to stop trying to get her to go back." Gio told her. Laura looked shocked, when did the Hammond pilot get here? "You and I have more important matters to discuss." He explained. "We happen to be partners for the doubles tournament, and I have a plan that I think you need to hear." Laura raised an eyebrow, and walked towards Gio. She motioned to hear it, and Gio explained it.

Gio and Laura were training in the arena the next day, and they were both getting good at their combos. They just finished their ultimate combo when Cecilia and Rin walked in with their ISs. The two started training, their teamwork skills painfully evident that they didn't work together at all. Laura and Gio let out a small chuckle, but Rin heard it. She turned towards Laura.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She asked rudely. Laura shrugged, she was about to make a snarky comment about Rin's skills when Gio pulled her back. Let Rin ignite the fight. And do that she did.

"You two barely know each other, and already you had fought with each other in the first ten minutes of seeing each other! Cecilia and I could beat you!" Rin exclaimed, but Cecilia looked doubtful at that. Rin and Cecilia, nevertheless, got in a fighting stance. Gio and Laura looked at each and nodded, and did the same. Rin counted down.

"3...2...1...Go!"

Gio rushed forward, slashing at Rin. Laura fired at Cecilia with her rail gun. Gio caught Rin's melee weapon in his hand, and ignited his flame shield. Rin's shield points decreased significantly at this, jumping back at the realization that the flame shield was an attack as well as a defense weapon. Rin fired her impact cannons, and Gio blocked the shots with his broadsword. Cecilia, on the other hand, was having a hard time fighting Laura, her sniper rifle wasn't doing any good against Laura's AIC. Cecilia lunged at Laura, hoping for a devastating attack with her missiles when her IS suddenly jerked sideways, her shield points dipping into critical. She looked at where the shot came from, seeing that Gio's rail gun had fired from his IS. How? His rail gun moved on a separate turret then his actual IS suit. The gun had a full 360 degree firing capability. Cecilia rushed at Gio, until Laura's trap wires wrapped themselves around her knees. Cecilia was lifted up and thrown towards Gio, who forcibly pushed Rin away and turned to where Cecilia would land. He slashed at her IS suit, crippling. Simultaneously, he fired a salvo core at Rin as she was recovering from the push. Both were knocked out instantly. Laura landed next to Gio, nodding her head in approval. He would make an excellent soldier. The pair deactivated their ISs, Laura walking out of the arena and Gio walking towards the defeated duo.

Ichika was steaming mad at Gio, he had deliberately attacked the two girls! He and Gio were in the infirmary, Ichika was called in by Gio and Gio had carried the two here in his IS. Rin and Cecilia were both resting, Gio and Laura had rocked them violently. Gio, guiltily, laughed inside his head. Here was two Contenders who couldn't even work together, or even defeat another Contender separately. Gio hadn't taken any damage with Laura taking minimal. Ichika looked at Cecilia and Rin, closing his eyes, looking deep in thought. He turned to Gio, opening his eyes to make sure he could see his anger.

"How could you? Are you jealous or something? They were just training! Did Laura make you? I-" Ichika started to say, but Gio cut him off.

"I was training with Laura when the two walked into the arena. Rin had made a comment, and challenged Laura and I to a duel. We won, but I went a bit overboard." Gio explained, "I'm sorry I did that." Ichika looked at Gio, recognizing he was sincere with his apology. He nodded, his anger at Gio dissipated, but he was going to get Laura. He had a feeling she wasn't going to apologize.

"Welcome one and all to the doubles tournament!"

The crowd cheered, excited to watch the upcoming fights. Meanwhile in the loading hangars, teams prepped for fights. Gio and Laura were going over some last minute designs when Gio pulled something out of Laura's IS. He looked at it closely, and realized he had pulled out her VT System. He shrugged, pocketing it for later study. Laura came up to him, made some final checks, and got into her IS. Gio did the same, powering up the suit. He and Laura were up, fighting Ichika and 'Charles'. Gio wished this chick would just give it up already. Seriously, what was the point of this cross dresser? Gio went over the plan one more time with Laura. She would fight Ichika, while Gio ran Charles to the ground. If Laura got into trouble, then Gio would intervene. As the two were walking out, Gio felt a pain in his head. He knew that feeling, it happened before.

Something bad was going to happen, but Gio didn't know when. He and Laura walked to the shootout point in the hangar, and there waiting for him was Kanzashi. She ran up to Gio, who kneeled to be level with her.

"Good luck out there. Kick his butt!" She told him, kissing him on the cheek. She then ran to Laura. "You keep him safe, alright?"

"Of course, but I don't think he will need it. He seems to be very affluent in the role of the IS pilot." Laura told her, "I'll bring him back in one piece." With that, Kanzashi nodded and got it of the way of the two ISs. The duo powered up, and shot out of the hangar into the arena. They landed right in front of Ichika and Charles. Laura looked Ichika up and down, and Gio sized up Charles. His IS was a Gen 2 _Raphael Revive, _Gio had fought a couple in his training days.

"So.._Raphael Revive, _huh? I must say, Hammond almost put in an order for them." Gio stated.

"What stopped them?" Charles asked.

"We developed our own IS, we got one _Raphael Revive _and built our newer models from our titans using it. I admit, it doesn't lose to the Gen 3s by much." Gio explained. Charles thanked him. Ichika and Laura, meanwhile were doing their standoff dialogue thing.

"I get to fight you in the first match, now I don't even have to wait." Laura said.

"Yeah...rather convenient isn't it?" Ichika responded. The countdown began, Gio and Laura got into their fighting stances, as did Ichika and Charles.

"3...2...1… Begin."

Ichika lunged at Laura, and Gio boosted away. He landed in front of Charles, and pulled out his 40mm cannon. Charles summoned an assault rifle, and the two began an explosive duel. Meanwhile, Ichika was having trouble with Laura. He needed Charles to intervene, but he was busy with Gio. Ichika dodged a slash from Laura, who snickered at him.

"Your plan won't work, not with Gio and I's skill. Charles will give out eventually. Give up." Laura told him. Ichika slashed at Laura, who caught his weapon with her dagger. "Why do you persist?"

"Because, Gio can't beat Charles. Hammond IS lack adequate shields to stop the one weapon that breaks them." Ichika stated defiantly. Laura's eyes widened.

"NIEN, NOT THE SHIELD PIERCE!" She yelled. Gio heard it and went pale, stopping completely. This gave Charles his opening, and brought out the said weapon. He rammed it into Gio's IS, and Gio visibly recoiled. Charles went to ram him again until he pulled out the weapon, and saw it smeared with blood. Charles' eyes went wide, Gio's IS didn't stop the shield pierce, and Charles had just stabbed Gio, right in the midsection. Charles looked at Gio , who was holding his stomach, probably keeping his insides in. Gio looked up, hate filled his eyes. Ichika felt the anger from his position. Laura could sense it, and was actually afraid. This… didn't seem like a natural anger. It seemed primal, uncontrolled, and explosive. She backed towards Ichika, and for the first time in her IS pilot life, was afraid.

Chifuyu looked at Charles in shock from the control room. Charles had just unwittingly released the Hammond pilot that she actually was a bit afraid of. She watch as Charles backed away from Gio, who was standing straight up, still clutching his stomach. His body let off a red hue, and his hand glowed. Suddenly, it stopped glowing, and the blood was gone. He had just healed the stab wound, stunning the whole crowd. Gio pulled out the broadsword, and raised it above his head. He quickly shoved the broadsword into the ground, and a wave of dark red spread through the arena, thankfully not hitting the grandstands. Gio's armor disappeared into a silhouette and reappeared just as quickly. His armor suit now was in it's _Canto 34 _look. Gio's broadsword had a new look. It had a longer handle, which required two hands and was held like a baseball bat, and the blade was longer and wider. Gio boosted towards Charles, and slashed at him. The sword broke the ISs chest piece, and Charles backed away. He looked down, thankful that there was no blood. Gio suddenly backed up, his eyes had a wild look in them. His IS brought out two high capacity missile launchers, and Chifuyu quickly hit the lockdown button. The arena's grandstands had their shield come down, protecting the crowd, just as Gio let loose and Salvo core with no set direction. The missiles landed all over, Laura being hit in the process. Her IS lost its railgun, and her shield dipped into critical. Ichika, however, took the chance, as Gio was reloading, to activate his ultimate ability, and sliced at Gio. Gio's IS visibly recoiled, but Gio turned and slashed as Ichika. Ichika fell, his IS was completely out of shield and shut down. Gio, who had fully lost all control of himself, let loose another barrage in no particular direction. Gio sprinted straight at Laura, and right as he was about to stab her, as katana batted Gio away from her. Laura turned to see Ichika with a partial deployment, using the last of his IS energy to protect her. Gio stumbled, his IS was losing its control over Gio. Gio, with looked around, and Ichika saw one eye was still in a normal state. Gio reached for his broadsword, and slashed his midsection, right where he was stabbed. Gio doubled over, and fell to the ground with a loud _THUD_. His IS shut down, and it was over. Laura looked at Ichika, and felt… maybe he was worthy after all. She saw him take down the only thing that scared so far, and was still standing unhurt. She figured, he was worthy of being Mentor's brother. Ichika himself could be something to her, as well. Not friends, but something...more.

Gio woke up, and found himself in the hospital again. He sighed, he was getting tired of ending up here. That fight… he forgot about the shield pierce! Hammond IS were powerful, but the shield pierce was the only weapon that could hurt it. Though, any pilot that tried to get close to Hammond pilot was defeated long before they could use the damn thing. He thought about contacting Hammond when he heard rapid footsteps, and was suddenly tackled by a blue and white blue.

"Gio! You're okay!"

Kanzashi was hugging Gio, the latter losing oxygen. He signaled to be let go, and, hesitantly, she did. Gio rubbed his sides, they were aching from the fight and from the hug. He sighed, and patted Kanzashi's head. He then heard another set of footsteps, and in the doorway appeared Charles and Chifuyu. Charles walked a bit closer, causing Kanzashi to hug Gio protectively, and Charles looked down in shame.

"I… came to apologize. I had forgotten about Hammond ISs and the shield peirce. Though I think your girlfriend won't forgive me, she proved that by chasing me around the campus with her IS gun blazing, but I hope that you can." Charles apologized. Gio thought it over, Charles sounded sincere and looked it too. He was visibly shaken at the realization he had almost killed a fellow pilot, and the fact that he walked in here after Kanzashi had tried to murder him was speaking volumes to Gio. Gio knew how mad Kanzashi could get. She almost destroyed an entire arena once after she lost a game against Gio, and it took Gio and Chifuyu an hour to calm her down. So Gi shrugged and accepted the apology. Chifuyu started talking next.

"Gio, the _Canto 34 _IS seems more stable now than it was when I first saw it. Have you been training with it?" She asked. Gio nodded, he told her how he trains using that form, but has Kanzashi stand on the side to calm him down if he gets out of control. Gio had vowed never to use it in an academy battle, as it would overpower anyone at the school. Kanzashi was blushing a bit, Gio had never explained why she was at the training sessions. She was ecstatic at his reason however. Chifuyu nodded at the explanation. "Just make sure you show up to class tomorrow, alright?" Gio nodded in reply, and she and Charles left the room. Kanzashi kissed Gio on the cheek one last time and left as well. Gio quickly left the bed and changed into normal clothes, and left for his dorm. He arrived in his room and didn't even change into clothes, he just fell on the bed and slept like a dead person.

Gio sat down in his chair, and looked around. He immediately noticed that Charles wasn't in the class. Gio watched as everyone took their seats, and Ms. Maya walked in, albeit with a nervous look on her face.

"So class, I have another transfer student to introduce...sorta." And with that, Charles walked in. Except he was a girl, and she reintroduced herself as Charlotte Dunois. The class went from shock to realizing she and Ichika used the new male bath together, which Gio whistled at. Suddenly, Rin burst into the room clad in IS form.

"ICHIKA!" She shouted, charging a cannon shot.

"NO! PLEASE! I'M REALLY GONNA DIE!" He shouted, and Gio turned, waiting for the shot. But it never came. Gio turned around, and saw Laura had protected Ichika with her AIC.

"Laura! Thank you, I would've died if it weren-mmph!" That was all Ichika got out before Laura had turned around and kissed him.

On the lips.

The whole class, especially Cecilia, Houki, and (now) Charlotte, were shocked. Gio was rather impressed. Laura released Ichika, and made a rather firm statement.

"No, I have decided to make you my bride. That is final and I will no objections from you."

"WHAT?!" went the whole class. Gio walked up to Ichika, patting him on the shoulder.

"You should probably start running." He whispered to him. And that, Ichika did, with Cecilia, Rin, and Houki hot on his tail. Gio chuckled, and thanked his lucky stars he didn't have Ichika's problem.

**So that ends another chapter! Yeah if it seems rushed, or grammar (grammer?) seems off, then put it in the reviews. I will try to work on it. Also, I think I need a beta reader. If you, pm me and we can talk it over. Until then, read and review! The 'Beach Arc' starts next chapter! I have it open in another tab right now, so hyped for it! H4mmond out, peace! (overused i know but i didn't know what else to say)**


	2. Chapter 4

**So here we are! The Beach Arc (is that what's called) but anyway, I try to pump these out pretty quickly, as you might know. My bio says minimum 20 days, but that is like the max deadline, so don't worry! If you weren't worrying, good job! Anyway, if you are wondering if Tehran will play into the story...it will or won't IDK. Hammond probably won't take the Middle East, so don't get offended! If you are, my sincere apologies. Now, here we go!**

Gio woke up in his dorm, he rubbed his eyes and looked towards the clock. It was around 7ish, and Gio wanted to sleep, but Ichika had asked Gio to come with him to the mall to go shopping for swim stuff. Gio had agreed, much to chagrin of Ichika's harem. Gio decided to step in and help the harem today. Somehow. Gio stretched, and heard what sounded like someone getting the shit beat out of them with a stick.

_Probably Ichika with Laura, _Gio thought, and got ready for the day.

On the train, it was evident that Ichika had indeed gotten the shit beaten out of him by someone. He had marks all over her body, much to Gio's delight, as he now had something to make fun of him with.

"Does Laura sleep with her IS? Or did Houki find you with Laura this morning?" Gio teased. Ichika playfully punched him, telling him it was the latter. They discussed some other things, like what they were doing during the beach trip. Gio decided he was going to get his IS under control. He heard from some people that the school president was still looking for him. Somehow, Gio was hard to find. Because one of the TWO males in the school of girls in the same CLASS made it difficult for her. Gio sighed, he just needed to be ready.

They arrived at the mall, Gio led Ichika to a beach store. They looked at various swim trunks. Ichika selected a blue one, while Gio selected a grey one. Gio bought snorkeling gear, and Ichika decided on a pair of goggles. They walked out of the store, and ran into Ichika's friend Dan, his sister Ran not far behind.

"Hey Dan, how are ya?" Ichika greeted him.

"Pretty good, what about you?" He responded.

"Not much, just buying some stuff for the class beach trip."

"Lucky, getting to go to a beach with all those girls. Wait.. who's this?"

Dan had turned to Gio, who waved to him. "I'm Gio, Hammond's Representative Contender, and totally a guy, I swear." Gio held out his hand, which Dan shook. Dan looked towards Ichika for an explanation. Ichika explained that Hammond had a male pilot, and that Ichika and Gio were both friends. Dan turned back to Gio, "So… you got a girlfriend?"

"Unlike Ichika, I do." This made Dan turn towards Ichika, and started going off at him about how could he do it and not him. While this was going on, Ran walked up to Gio, and looked him up and down. She didn't seem impressed.

"So what IS do you pilot?" She asked.

"Smart, aren't you? I pilot the _Firestorm _IS, which has a second form of _Canto 34_." At this, Ran backed up. "You pilot _Canto 34_?!" This got Dan's attention. "You were the pilot that destroyed Cecilia Alcott's IS?" She asked. Gio nodded his head, and Ran almost fainted. Hammond pilots were strong, with females in IS mechs and males in those titan ones, they were unstoppable. This guy was the real deal here if he could do both. Ran, suddenly impressed, asked to hear more about Gio's time as an IS pilot. Gio obliged, and started talking to Ran while Dan and Ichika were discussing how Ichika could be friends with a Hammond pilot but couldn't get a girl.

Meanwhile, near the back of the store was a small group stalking Ichika. Laura, Charlotte, Cecilia, and Rin were watching Ichika talk with Dan while Gio with Ran. Then, Gio waved goodbye to Ran and Ichika did likewise to Dan. The two walked together, discussing something, but the group couldn't hear what it was.

"All I'm saying is you should notice them. Acknowledge that you know they like you as more than a friend." Gio told Ichika.

"What if that doesn't help?" Ichika asked.

"Hey, I didn't say you had to do it. Do it when you feel comfortable."

Okay, but who should go first?"

"I say just do it all at the same time. Get the whole group together and tell them."

"Sounds good."

The two walked away, unaware of the girls. Fortunately, they hadn't heard a word the two had said to each other.

Gio was hanging out in his room when his head started hurting. Gio fell to his knees, the pain was almost unbearable. He shut his eyes, and against his wishes, was shown his past. The squad dying, the girl being burnt alive, the shooting. It all came back, and in one final burst of pain, a word was etched into his mind.

_Inferno._

As soon as the word had appeared, the pain quickly subsided. Gio stood up, keeping his hand on his forehead. He quickly shook it off. Just a quick flashback, he was fine. He returned back to relaxing, unfazed of the word or what had just happened.

Gio walked up at the beach. He breathed in the salty ocean air, it almost reminded him of home. He walked down to the shoreline where the girls were. Ichika was getting his usual attention, and Gio walked up to him, patting him on the shoulder. Ichika, meanwhile, just got roped into putting on sunscreen on Cecilia's back. Gio backed away, knowing something was going to happen. Ichika went on to carry out the deed, while Gio walked away. He made his way to a secluded part of the beach, and after making sure no one was around, summoned his IS. It came out as _Firestorm_, but Gio knew he could summon _Canto 34 _if he tried. He reached deep into his mind, pulling all the bad memories from his past, and forcefully summoned _Canto 34_. He looked at his hands, wondering if the flame wave offensive was buffed, similar to his broadsword. Gio raised his right hand, and it ignited. He brought the hand down quickly, and on the way down a wall of fire appeared. When Gio's fist hit the ground, the wave went straight ahead of him. But instead of the usual fire leading the way, the wave seemed to explode the whole way down till it dissipated. In the wake of destruction, the fire burned strongly. Then, after around 20 seconds, it went out. The sand that was hit with the fire had turned to glass with how hot it was. Gio nodded in approval. He decided to test out the flame shield next. He summoned it, and wondered if he could throw the shield. He tested it out, throwing the shield Captain America style, and it worked. The shield flew quickly, and hit a nearby tree. Instead of bouncing off of it, it exploded and left a thermite field of flame. Gio nodded again, this was overpowered. He decided on testing the Flame Core. He charged it to maximum output, and raised both fists. He brought them down, and upon contact, a huge wave of fire shot out. It went on, the width expanding until the flame stopped. Then, the field of fire exploded, the biggest explosion ever seen. Gio was thrown back a bit, and quickly recovered. The beach was on fire in multiple places, and Gio knew he might be in trouble.

"And just WHAT were you thinking when you brought out _Canto 34_?! You literally turned the beach to glass over there! For what? To test out the powers? To make yourself a target? Someone could've gotten hurt!" Maya yelled at him. Gio just let it happen, he knew he messed up. After the Flame Core had exploded, the whole beach knew something was up. Maya and Chifuyu had ran over to see Gio trying to fan the fires out, but the beach was a mess of flames and glassed areas. Maya had been angrily chewing Gio out for the mess, and stopped after Gio promised not to test out _Canto 34 _again on the beach. Maya huffed, and walked away. Chifuyu watched her walk, and turned back to Gio. Gio looked at Chifuyu, hoping she was going to give some kind of praise on his power-

_SLAP!_

Or hit him with the clipboard, that worked too. Gio wondered where she pulled that out of, but pushed it to the side of his mind. Chifuyu started talking about how the beach was for relaxing and not a testing site for an unstable IS. Gio nodded, apologized once more, and left Chifuyu. Chifuyu turned to look at the destruction. Most of the beach had scorch marks or had turned to glass. She was minorly impressed at _Canto 34's _strength. The IS was virtually unstoppable with Gio at the controls, provided he didn't get pissed off and wreck everything around him. A thought crossed her mind, _What if this isn't his full power?_ She shivered at that thought, put this had to be his full power. She walked away, leaving the smoldering beach behind her.

Gio was sitting in his sleeping area, reading a newspaper article on the Battle of Tehran. Apparently, Hammond had quickly pulled out of the Middle East entirely. Gio knew it was to placate the UN for a time, but that was total bull and Gio knew it. Hammond was probably fed up with a certain group, and Gio knew they were going to come after him and Ichika in the near future. Gio folded up the newspaper, and threw it behind him. He powered up his TCC and went over his IS features, adding on the 40mm cannon and the tracking missiles. He removed the extra missile rack, and opted for the usual salvo core with a double barrelled railgun. His choice offensives were the tracking missiles and the flame wave, with defence being the fame shield. His hand weapon was the 40mm and his broadsword. He closed the screen, and as soon as he did, Ichika walked in with two sodas. He threw one in Gio's direction, Gio caught it and opened it. He put it down next to him, and grabbed his bag. He pulled out some chips, and started eating. He and Ichika were enjoying the peace until there was a knock on the door. Both of the boys looked up, then at each other, mentally asking the same question: _Did I invite someone?_ Ichika got up and opened the door, and saw the person was Kanzashi.

"Sorry for bothering you, can I come in?" She asked. Ichika nodded and let her in. She walked in and sat down next to Gio. Gio knew what she was here for. He reached to his bag, and pulled out a laptop. He powered it on, and quickly set up a connection to the internet. He pulled up a movie site, and started browsing movies with Kanzashi. Meanwhile, Ichika was reading some notes on IS, and seemed to understand it a bit more. Gio watched him out of the corner of his eyes, and mentally nodded in approval. He was glad Ichika was getting better at IS combat, maybe he could stand toe-to-toe with him someday. He returned back to Kanzashi, who had selected the movie _Avatar_. Gio started the movie, the couple got comfortable, and started watching the movie.

The next day, Ichika woke up before Gio did. He did a quick check to make sure Laura wasn't in his bed with him, and after making sure, looked over at Gio. Gio was sleeping silently, and Ichika knew he wasn't going to be up for a while. Gio was facing away from Ichika, and Ichika didn't notice the light blue hair of one Kanzashi Sarashiki, until he looked more closely and noticed her. Ichika suddenly went into full panic mode. If Chifuyu saw Gio...well...he was in enough trouble as is with the beach thing. This would get him expelled for sure. Ichika mulled over on how he could protect Gio until he was pulled from his thoughts. Gio had moved. Then, Gio sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around, as if unsure of where he was. He seemed confused, then he looked down, right at Kanzashi, and his eyes went wide. He seemed to panic for a bit until he realized one thing. Let her sleep, and deal with problem later. He carefully untangled himself from Kanzashi, and walked to the door. Ichika got up and followed him. They both walked outside, Gio walked towards the food area, while Ichika looked down. Gio had failed to notice the bunny ears sticking out of the ground. Ichika decided to pull them out of the ground. And at that SPECIFIC moment, Gio's day went from pretty okay…

To insanely worse.

**Alright, we've started the Beach Arc, now we get to go see how Gio will fight Silver Gospel next! Or it might be a cliffhanger, who knows.**

**Gio: You do, dumbass.**

**A: Hey, who said you could fourth wall break?**

**Gio: I do what I want, and to answer the question, it will be a cliffhanger.**

**A: AND JUST LIKE THAT, I have to make it a full chapter...thanks Gio.**

**Gio: No problem, H4mmond.**


	3. Chapter 5

**So here we are, the fight of the century! Not really, but we need some hype. So now, won't hold you up, here's the chapter!**

Gio had entered the makeshift cafeteria, looked at the food choices, and grabbed some cereal. He thought back to last night. After the movie finished, it was too late to send Kanzashi back to her room. She asked to stay, and since Ichika was asleep, Gio let her. Of course, the two had a quick 'cuddling' session, but nothing serious. As Gio looked at the food that was present, he realized he didn't really know what Kanzashi liked to eat for breakfast, so he grabbed her an apple. He was walking back when a very energetic lady ran by, who seemed to be looking for Houki. He shrugged it off, not putting too much thought into it. He walked back to his room, and opened door. Kanzashi was standing near the mirror, wearing one of Gio's t-shirts, which covered whatever she might be wearing underneath it, and was fixing her hair. Gio's perspective was that she only had the shirt on, and that was it. Gio almost dropped the food, and had to stop a nosebleed. Kanzashi turned around, and noticed Gio was staring. For an awkward moment, the two stared at each other. Kanzashi broke the silence first.

"Not sure why you're staring. Remember, you saw me in my underwear last night." She said.

"I...am not sure either. Last night was my first time sleeping with a girl." Gio responded, "You want some breakfast?"

"Yes please." She walked towards him, and grabbed the apple. "So, let me guess, you think I'm naked under this?"

"Yeah…" That got Kanzashi to laugh. She pulled up the shirt, and revealed she had some track shorts on, emphasis on short. Gio sighed in relief, and walked to his bed. He sat down, Kanzashi sat down next to him. They ate, and conversed on some random topics. Eventually, they just laid on Gio's bed, watching another movie. They almost finished it, when Ichika suddenly threw the door open. He was in his IS suit, and turned to Gio.

"You need to come with me, Chifuyu wants to speak to all IS pilots with a personal IS. Something about a rogue IS."

Gio arrived with Kanzashi at a makeshift headquarters. It was a large tent, with an antenna set up on the back right corner. He entered the tent, and Chifuyu was talking to Houki about something. There was another girl beside Houki, and Gio recognized her instantly.

It was Tabane Shinonono.

Gio, unfazed, walked next to Chifuyu. He tapped her on the shoulder, signifying that he was ready for anything. She nodded, and turned around to look at him and Kanzashi. She filled them in on the story: an autonomous IS developed by Israel and the US has gone rogue. The IS was called _Silver Gospel_. It could learn about its enemies and adapt to their strategy to fight it more effectively. Gio sighed, he was bored of those IS types. Hammond had built some, but Gio and the other Hammond pilots showed the scientists that these IS were useless. Even the 'smart' IS types were easy. Gio mulled over a strategy, this IS would need to be dealt with precise attacks. However, unpredictable actions were needed as well. Gio went over to where Ichika was standing, and Houki joined them. Chifuyu gave them the rundown, the team was Ichika, Houki, and Gio. They were the only ones with an IS that could counter _Silver Gospel's _speed and weapons. Gio nodded, and turned to Houki, congratulating her on getting an IS. She nodded, thanking him for the congrats. Ichika turned to Houki as well, saying he needed to talk to her after this. Chifuyu dismissed the team. They had 4 hours to prepare.

Tabanae was walking from the tent when she heard footsteps rapidly approaching. She turned around, and nearly was hit with a fist from Gio. She jumped back, shock evident on her face.

"Now why did you go and do that?" She asked.

"I don't know, maybe because my country is still cleaning up YOUR mess. The Middle East heist ring a bell to you?" Gio responded.

"Oh yes, the trouble over there. Well...wait. Did you say YOUR country?" She asked, her voice going from her regular song-like self to almost questioning with a hint of fear.

"Yeah, my country. Hammond. And I lost friends in that war, and Hammond lost good men and women in that war. The war YOU started." Gio snapped back as his response, anger becoming more evident in his voice. "So I will ask you once, did you hack _Silver Gospel_?"

"Yes, why does it matter? I want to test Houki and Ichika-"

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT IF YOU WANT TO TEST THEM! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GODDAMN GENIUS, NOT SOME TEST OVERSEER FOR YOUR LITTLE SIS! I SWEAR TO GOD, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HACKED?! THAT THING COULD KILL HER AND ICHIKA EASILY IF SOMETHING AS LITTLE AS ONE LETTER IN ITS CODE IS SCREWED UP!" Gio shouted at her.

Tabane quickly paled at this. She managed to recover, and laughed it off. "There's no way I messed up the code. Houki and Ichika can handle it, I just needed info on the new IS. They'll be fine, relax!"

"I swear to god almighty, if you are wrong…I personally will lead a goddamn war raid to your hideout and burn you inside of it." Gio promised, his voice evident that he was stating fact to Tabane. He walked away, not before pouring salt on a still fresh wound.

"Just remember Tabane: Hammond will always be ahead of you. Just look at the Middle East."

And with that, Gio walked away. Behind him, was an angry Tabane. She was already forming how she would get him back for that.

Gio walked back to his room, changing his IS's hand weapon from the 40mm to the XO-16 chaingun, with an extended clip making it 90 bullets, via the TCC. He was heading back to his room when shiver went up his spine. It was a quick one, so Gio dismissed it as him being cold in a quick breeze. He walked into his room, and began changing into his suit. He was took off his shirt, and looked around for his pilot suit, but it had seemed to be gone. He looked all around his room, and couldn't find it. He was about to just give up and use his pilot armor when a certain someone called him out.

"Looking for this?"

Gio turned around, and saw Houki holding his IS suit. Gio sighed in relief, and walked up to grab it. He thanked Houki, and went back to change when Houki grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see what was up when he got hit with a surprise.

Well…more accurately he got hit with Houki's hand, she had slapped him.

"Why? What was the reason for yelling at my older sister?" She asked.

"Oh..that. I don't like the game she's playing here." Gio responded.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's obviously the one who hacked _Silver Gospel_. And she only did the to test the new IS she gave you. I don't think she is aware of how dangerous an uncontrolled Smart IS is. Those things are kept on a metaphorical leash at all times to make sure they don't kill anyone or level cities. As I said with Tabane, if one thing in the code is messed up, even as little as a misspelled word or a wrong process is present, the leash gets put away." Gio explained.

Houki nodded, now she understood why Gio was yelling at her sister. _Silver Gospel _could injure, or even kill her and Ichika. There was no way of telling what it could do, it was an uncontrolled robot. Unlike with Gio when he went berserker mode, where the only way to get him to stop was recalling his sanity, this opponent would require the ultimate shutdown: it had to be destroyed. Houki, satisfied with the explanation, walked away. Gio sighed, and went back to changing.

_5 hours later…_

"Seriously, where the hell is this thing?" Gio shouted to Ichika.

"Should be around here...I think." he responded. The team had been flying for around an hour, and Gio was getting impatient. He really wanted to destroy this piece of crap and go home. A Smart IS was no more dangerous, if coded correctly, than a regular pilot. Gio, on the inside, was hoping this was going to be a hard battle. While flying towards the IS, Gio had gotten a good look at Houki's IS. It was red, and had two swords. It flew a bit faster than Ichika's, but slower than Gio's. It held a sort of majestic feeling with it, like it was made for a noble swordsman.

Or in this case, a noble swordswoman. The IS was made for Houki, and Gio knew it. Now the question was: Could she use it effectively? They would find out. They neared the area, and that was about that moment that everything went wrong.

_Ten minutes earlier..._

Back at the HQ, Tabane was steaming mad. Gio's comment had really gotten to her, and she wanted to get back at him. She pulled up the _Silver Gospel's _coding, and played around with it. She made it more deadly, but suddenly, she was locked out. She raised an eyebrow, and tried to get back in. She couldn't get in, she tried again and again. She was locked out, and she was unable to get back in. She paled, she had just done what Gio had warned her about. The team was now in deep trouble, and grave danger.

_Back at the fight…_

Gio slashed at _Silver Gospel_. The IS dodged, and quickly flew up. It lashed out its hand, and small beams of light plasma. The beams spread out, and flew at the team. They hit all around them, causing a smoke screen. Gio flew through the smoke, and slashed at the area where he thought _Gospel _was. The smoke cleared, and he found he was wrong. He looked around, looking for _Gospel_, when he heard Houki scream. She had been hit by _Gospel's _short hand sword. Ichika flew in ,and slashed at _Gospel._ It dodged, and went in to slash as well. The two duelled, but _Gospel _came out on top. Ichika was hit away by _Gospel_. Suddenly, _Gospel _went still. Gio eyed it, unsure what it was doing. Then, as suddenly as it had shut down, _Gospel _started up again. It quickly spun around, and launched a halo of beams at the team. This damaged the whole team, and they all hit the ground. Ichika, Houki, and Gio struggled to get up, when _Gospel _launched a large beam at Houki. Houki, struggled to get out of the way. Gio, suddenly aware of what had just happened, jumped in front of the beam. He deployed his flame shield, and absorbed the beam. He launched the energy back at _Gospel_, which caused it to fly it away. Gio nodded, he needed the quick break.

"Listen up. The IS just lost its leash. _Gospel _is going full train at us. You two need to leave, now! This is no longer a search and destroy mission for you two, this is escape and survive." Gio told Ichika and Houki. They nodded, and they flew off. Gio turned back to _Gospel_. He pulled out his broadsword, and focused hard. Suddenly, he appeared in his _Canto 34 _suit. He shot straight to _Gospel_, and quickly slashed. He scored a hit, and quickly launched two railgun shots. _Gospel _was hit by the first shot, but caught the second shot. Gio raised an eyebrow at this. _Gospel _threw the shot back, and it hit Gio straight in the shoulder. What was worse, the shot went straight through the armor, severely wounding Gio. He held his shoulder, and saw _Gospel _powering up another shot. Gio weakly raised his hand, but the shield wouldn't power up. He watched as the beam charge, and fly straight at him. Gio knew that this was it. He was going to join his friends, finally getting to see them again. The beam hit, and the world imploded on Gio.

_The same moment in HQ…_

"NO!" Kanzashi screamed.

She had just watched Gio get obliterated by _Silver Gospel_. The rest of the crew looked down, unable to comprehend what just happened. The Hammond Representative Contender, just died.

And everyone knew who did it.

_The duo IS pilots…_

Ichika and Houki had watched the final fight. Gio's body fell from the explosion, hitting the ocean water. They knew he was dead, but they couldn't mourn now. _Silver Gospel _turned towards the duo. They flew away at quick speeds, escaping _Silver Gospel_.

_Later…_

"HOW?! HOW COULD YOU!? I'LL KILL YOU TABANE SHINONONO! YOU KILLED HIM!" Kanzashi was screaming at Tabane, who was being protected by Laura, while Charles and Cecilia held Kanzashi and her IS back. The whole school had heard what happened, and we shocked, to say the least. The Hammond pilot, dead? No, this was a bad dream, he was coming back. It was a strategy, right?

No, he was dead. Ichika and Houki had confirmed it to Chifuyu, describing the fight and Gio falling to the ocean. Kanzashi was silent when hearing this, and suddenly had gone berserk. Charles and Cecilia had barely kept her back from Tabane, and now were trying to calm her down. Tabane just looked on in shock. Gio was right, Smart IS could kill. She was lucky Houki and Ichika had gotten away safely. Gio wasn't lucky, he had covered the two's retreat, and died for them. Houki was being held by Ichika, and crying. Ichika's face darkened, he was going to destroy _Silver Gospel_, right after he punished Tabane. Kanzashi had finally calm down, and had started crying on the floor uncontrollably. She was never going to see him again.

Gio had been finally defeated, and his loss cost him his life.

**Alright, now the story is over! We can go back to Hammond v UNSC!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**JK! Why would I do that? I like writing this story, so Gio is not dead. All is well! Unless you don't like the story, but now I must go write the next chapter. You all probably want to see what happens to Gio next! So until next time!**

_**Sneak Preview**_

_Chifuyu watched, mesmerized by the look at the IS that had just appeared. It was black, holding two black swords, one in each hand, and wreathed in fire. The IS was in full Legion suit, and was giving off a dark, red hue. Even Silver Gospel stared, and seemed to fly back a bit. This IS was unfamiliar, until it spoke._

"_Dante made his way from Inferno, being led by Virgil. On his way up, he came upon a creature. This creature seemed to push everything away, just by the creature being near another. This creature was a sin, made by the Lord Himself. I, the one who stands before you, am that creature. I am the embodiment of the story, the epitome of Canto 34. I am INFERNO."_


End file.
